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Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 218 ~ 29 of 39
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AP Sports Writers Dave Skretta and Jake Seiner contributed. ___
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Trump focuses on rst responders after Florida shooting By CATHERINE LUCEY and KEN THOMAS, Associated Press
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump has made a grim trip to a Florida community reeling from a deadly school shooting, meeting privately with victims and cheering the heroics of rst responders.
But he extended few public words of consolation to those in deep mourning, nor did Trump address the debate over gun violence that has raged since a 19-year-old gunman killed 17 and injured 14 others. Two days after the shooting, Trump visited Broward Health North Hospital Friday, where he saw two victims and praised the doctors and nurses for their “incredible” job. With his wife Melania, he also paid his respects to law enforcement of cials in Fort Lauderdale, telling of cers he hoped they were “getting
the credit” they deserved.
“I was at the hospital with a lot of parents and they are really thankful for the job you’ve done,” Trump
said at the Broward County Sheriff’s Of ce, where he was joined by Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. Marco Rubio and other Florida of cials. He added that the young victims were in “really great shape” considering what they have been through.
Never a natural at consolation, the president seemed more at ease extending hearty thanks to rst responders, marveling at the speed with which they rushed the wounded to the hospital and quipping that they deserved a raise. He had less to say to the grief and sorrow gripping a shocked community and nation after the deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Asked if he’d talked with victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Trump added: “I did indeed, and it’s very sad something like that could happen.”
Trump spoke privately with two victims, a boy and a girl, at the hospital. At the Sheriff’s Of ce, he also met Detective Richard Olson and his son, Will Olson, who was shot during the attack. Trump spoke about the girl he met with, saying she had been shot four times, and that rst responders had helped save her life by getting her quickly to the hospital.
Late Friday, he tweeted about the school shooting: “Our entire Nation, w/one heavy heart, continues to pray for the victims & their families in Parkland, FL. To teachers, law enforcement, rst responders & medical professionals who responded so bravely in the face of danger: We THANK YOU for your courage!” He included pictures of the injured young girl and her family that he and the rst lady visited.
Speaking directly to the raw emotions was Rubio, who told Trump, “This is a community and a state that’s in deep pain and they want action to make sure this never happens again.”
Trump replied: “You can count on it.”
Still, the president made no policy statements. An avid supporter of the National Ri e Association, he did not mention the renewed debate over gun violence, ignoring a shouted question about gun laws. Trump tweeted earlier Friday that he was “working with Congress on many fronts,” though he offered no details.
Trump’s visit followed a similar script to his visit to Las Vegas in the fall after the worst mass slaying in modern history. On that trip, he also made a visit to a hospital, meeting with victims behind closed doors and then congratulating rst responders.
It’s an approach that stands in contrast to his predecessor’s handling of mass shootings. After the Sandy Hook slayings, ve years ago, President Barack Obama attended an emotional vigil in Newtown, where he read aloud the names of each victim and promised to use “whatever power” he had to prevent future shootings.
Trump said he originally planned to visit the Parkland area on Sunday or Monday, but decided he didn’t want to wait. But as Trump arrived in Florida, some of the parents, survivors and others affected by the